25 Middle School Girls Took Part in the STEM Camp, 'GE Girls @ Georgia Tech'

The following was submitted to Midtown Patch by Katie Shuford, Edelman.

This week, 25 middle school girls came together to take part in an exciting week-long camp, GE Girls @ Georgia Tech, and experience the fun of hands-on science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) activities and workshops and meet academic leaders and women professionals in STEM and financial services careers.

The goal of the camp is to foster lasting interest in STEM among young girls in the Atlanta community, considering women are under-represented in STEM fields. Created by women for girls, GE Girls @ Georgia Tech is sponsored by the Atlanta hub of the GE Women’s Network, with members from GE Energy Management, GE Power & Water, and GE Capital, in collaboration with Georgia Tech Women in Engineering (WIE).

The camp kicked off on Monday, June 10, with opening remarks by Tracey Pattenaude, GE Girls @ Georgia Tech co-leader and finance leader of GE Energy Management, who spoke about her own background in STEM and the impact women can make in the field. Students started working together on their first project, engineering a LEGO tower to teach construction and physics, followed by constructing a card tower and creating an edible car.

Christine Valle, director of the Women in Engineering (WIE) Program at Georgia Tech, and Stephanie Mains, vice president, Service Operations at GE Power & Water, discussed the importance of women in engineering, STEM education programs within the Atlanta community, and businesses investing in today’s women.

“Our hope is that every girl who attended this inaugural camp will leave empowered, educated and understand that a career in STEM is highly rewarding,” said Stephanie Mains. “I’ve witnessed amazing things and lots of smiles this week from these students and know they have very bright futures ahead.”

The week was full of fun workshops such as Tuesday’s chemistry activities, with the students making their lip balm and creating ice cream, which was a favorite among the group. Wednesday focused on robotics and students made Alka-Seltzer rockets and learned about aerospace.

Thursday highlighted women leaders from Georgia Power, GE Capital and jcpenney who discussed FDIC money smart for young adults, as well as branding exercises. The festivities continued with an evening graduation BBQ at the GE Grid IQ Center where parents came with students, who were presented a certificate. Friday’s lessons center on electronics with Plexi-glass art and flashlight building.